“What about your charity dinner on Monday night?”

  Derek gave him a look to drop the interrogation.

  “Oh, she’s busy since it was such short notice. Gotcha. So the follow-on date will be after that.” Then Will frowned. “You don’t want to ask her out before then? Man, I sure would, especially now that you’ve broken the ice with her.”

  Well, Derek did want to ask her out again, but she was already balking about doing anything further with him. “I imagine she’s going to be busy with her new role in the company.”

  Will shook his head. “That wouldn’t stop me from asking her out. She’s still bound to have free time to do something else.”

  With Foxy and Red on his heels, Cliff Taylor, Derek’s longtime bodyguard, came inside to eat breakfast with them. “I did my rounds outside. Nothing suspicious. Sorry about having to take off for family business right before the gala.” He’d gotten in early this morning.

  “Anytime either of you need to take off for any reason, it’s really no problem. If I feel I need another bodyguard to fill in for one of you guys, I’ll just ask Rafe to loan me one. Allister did a good job last night. Is everything all right with your mom?” Derek asked, petting both the dogs.

  “Yeah, Mom fell and broke her leg—a simple fracture—and I took care of her until my sister was able to finally fly in to stay with her.” Cliff sat down at the dining room table with them. “Luckily, Mom was all right otherwise, and with our fast-healing properties, she’ll be fine in no time.”

  “Okay, good.”

  Cliff said, “Well, I heard there were a lot of new changes since I was gone.”

  Derek figured Will had told Cliff all about Brenda and Kate already.

  “So are there any more dates planned?” Cliff asked.

  Smiling, Derek shook his head. “I’ve got to get some breakfast, and then I’m off to work.” He often worked out of his home, managing his successful investments in real estate and hedge funds and even investing in entrepreneurs’ new product lines that had taken off, sitting poolside while he had a view of the Pacific Ocean and beach down below. He hadn’t expected his bodyguards to get so interested in his dating habits all of a sudden. Then again, Kate was a wolf, so that made a difference. If he mated a she-wolf, that would change the dynamics in the household.

  He heard his housekeeper, Maddie Meyer, in the kitchen making breakfast. She was a gray wolf like the others, midfifties, widowed, and she’d worked for him for about ten years now as his cook and housekeeper, but she also managed the gardeners and cleaning staff. He’d given her more roles, more responsibility because she was always looking at doing more for him and he enjoyed her company.

  “I’m making you ham and eggs and toast, all right?” Maddie asked.

  “Sounds good to me,” Cliff said.

  “Yeah, I’m ready,” Will said, even though they knew Maddie was talking to Derek.

  “Yeah, that sounds good,” Derek said. Anything she made was really great.

  Maddie soon brought out a bowl of scrambled eggs and another of skillet potatoes for everyone to eat in the formal dining room. She went back for the sliced ham. She always ate at the breakfast nook in the kitchen since it had a view of the pool and the guys could talk guy talk while she read a shifter romance book, just her preference.

  Derek picked up the serving spoon to scoop up some scrambled eggs. “Thanks, Maddie.”

  “You’re welcome. I heard you ditched Brenda for a she-wolf Friday night. I told you that you should have hired Kate to be your bodyguard instead of Will.” Maddie set the sliced ham on the table and headed back to the kitchen.

  Derek smiled at Will.

  She brought out the toast, butter, honey, and jam. Then she returned to the kitchen and came back with a fresh pot of steaming-hot coffee to refill everyone’s coffee mugs.

  “Hey, did you see in the tabloid the way Derek and Kate were kissing and dancing at the gala?” Will asked. “She wouldn’t have lasted as Derek’s bodyguard for a month.”

  “Exactly. They would have been mated, and then he could have hired you to fill her vacated position,” Maddie said. “Now she’s part owner of Lexi’s cosmetic line, and she’s going to be too busy to date Derek any further. It’s all over Twitter.”

  “They’re going camping together,” Will said.

  Maddie smiled. “Oh, now that’s good news. I will make you the best food ever for the camping trip. Something special for the two of you.”

  “They’re going with Rafe, Aidan, and Lexi and their mates,” Will said so Maddie didn’t think it was a camping trip just between Derek and Kate.

  “Oh, well, we’ll have to fix them right up, won’t we?” Maddie was talking to Cliff and Will and looking like she had a new mission in mind instead of speaking to Derek about it. She really hadn’t liked that he was dating human women, and she had even suggested he ask Kate out on a date when Kate had come to the house to interview for the bodyguard position and Maddie had really liked her.

  “I’m not helping with that project,” Will declared. “Cliff and I might still have a chance to date Kate ourselves.”

  Derek smiled.

  Cliff shook his head. “She’s not interested in me. She’s always too busy. I’ve asked her three times if she would like to go out for pizza, a Chinese dinner, or the movies. She did get a whole lot of interest when the other guys who work for Rafe interviewed for Derek’s vacant bodyguard position. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them has started asking her out. And then there’s Mike, who works with her all the time.”

  “We would have heard something about that already.” Maddie joined them at the dining table, the first time ever.

  Derek guessed she wanted to pursue this discussion with him dating Kate. Even Will and Cliff looked surprised to see Maddie joining them.

  Then Maddie served up eggs and ham for herself. She pointed her fork at Will. “Don’t you dare try to mess up anything between Derek and Kate or you could find yourself looking for a new job and you only just got this one.”

  As if Maddie had anything to do with hiring or firing anyone on Derek’s staff.

  The guys all laughed. When Maddie had it in mind that Derek should do something—like attend a function he wasn’t interested in going to or finding a home for one of the Irish setters because a family wanted one really badly and some of the dogs needed the constant affection—she pursued it until he agreed.

  But this time, Maddie would have to try to convince Kate of it, not him.

  “I agree with Will. You have to ask her out on a date, Derek. Not one that has anything to do with a social function. An honest-to-goodness date. And you have to do it before the camping trip, not afterward! What if things worked out really well between the two of you and by the time the camping trip comes around, she wanted to have even more dates and you ended up getting to stay with her in her tent?” Maddie smiled. “Her sleeping bag—or yours even?”

  Derek laughed. He’d never seen Maddie so enthusiastic about anything since she had begun working for him. He swore he had to make it his mission that he found Maddie a mate soonest!

  His business advisor, Liam McConnell, arrived at the house then, and Derek was glad to get the heat off himself concerning this dating business. “Hey, want some breakfast?”

  The dogs hurried to greet Liam, though they were still focused on looking for any table scraps that might fall their way.

  “Yeah, you know I always love Maddie’s cooking.”

  Derek noticed that Liam often arrived for meetings around meals; he was a typical bachelor who couldn’t figure out what to fix for himself. Since it was Saturday, they weren’t meeting at the office. Not that Derek went to his office all the time either. He could do most of his business from home.

  “Did you see all the photos taken of Derek with Kate?” Will handed the tabloid to Liam.

  Liam smiled. “Yeah. First thing I saw this morning. You know it’s my business to keep track of anything that could hurt or help Derek financially.”

  “So what’s the verdict?” Cliff asked.

  Maddie got Liam a cup of coffee, a plate, and silverware.

  “Well, financially, it couldn’t hurt if Derek mated Kate,” Liam said.

  Hell, Derek’s own advisor was now acting like he wasn’t even there.

  “She’s now part owner of Clair de Lune Cosmetics. It’s all over the internet. So to get involved with Kate would be an excellent financial decision.” Liam smiled at Derek and began to dish up some eggs.

  Derek hoped Kate wouldn’t believe that about him, should they ever start to really date.

  “I told you that you should have dated her already. Now she could think you’re interested in adding her half of the business to all your acquisitions,” Maddie said.

  Smiling, Derek shook his head, though he had to admit he did worry about that a bit.

  After finishing breakfast, Derek and Liam sat out on the patio overlooking the beach and the pool from high up above on the cliffs while the dogs lay nearby. A low wall with flowers planted on top of it shielded them from prying eyes.

  Liam had a bunch of papers for Derek to sign, moving money around from one stock to another to improve his portfolio. “I’m serious about you dating Kate,” Liam said. “Not because of her gaining part ownership of Lexi’s company but because she’s going to be inundated with offers to date her and more. You know how it is when you’re suddenly thrust into the public eye.”

  “Yeah.” Derek did know all about having so much publicity. Kate wasn’t exactly used to it. Now he wondered if other people would think he knew about the change in the company’s ownership before the gala and that was why he had asked her to accompany him. He was certain Brenda would believe that was the case. Why else would he go out with a woman who was only a personal assistant and bodyguard? they’d think.

  “Even if you and Kate aren’t interested in mating, at least for a time, you could take her to some of your social engagements and wolves would leave her alone. Humans are a different story,” Liam said. “It might be nice for her too instead of just being there for Lexi. Especially since Lexi now has Ryder.”

  “I already asked Kate to go with me for a dinner engagement on Monday.” Then Derek had to explain about that.

  Liam cocked a brow. “Another charity event? And another one that is short notice that you had planned to take Brenda to? Well, hell, don’t quit trying. After I leave here, give her a call. Have her come out and walk the dogs on the beach. It doesn’t have to be an official date-date. Just something she might like to do. With you. You never know, but she might not even like the galas as much as she likes to be one with nature. She’s a wolf after all.”

  Now that was a novel idea. Derek had never invited a woman to just take a walk with him and the dogs. He hadn’t thought any woman might be interested in such a mundane thing. They had all been into fancy social affairs.

  Brenda didn’t even like dogs. He never had her over to his house because of it. He knew Kate loved Spirit, the part German shepherd, part wolf that Lexi had taken in. He’d seen Kate playing with the wolf dog that Rafe had given a home to when she was visiting with the ladies there and Derek had been visiting with the guys. So Derek knew Kate liked dogs. It might work. All of a sudden, he was feeling really good about this. He just hoped she didn’t turn him down.

  Maybe easing Kate into a date like that would work out much better. “I’ll do that.”

  Liam nodded. “Good. I need to get on with the rest of my day.” Then he stood, slapped Derek on the shoulder, and headed back into the house, telling Maddie, “Excellent breakfast, as usual.”

  Will and Cliff were conducting their morning rounds, walking around the property. Derek had never had any problems that he had needed a bodyguard for, but since Rafe and Aidan had, he figured it would be better to be safe than sorry.

  Then Derek got on the phone to call Kate. Not Lexi this time. At least Lexi had given Derek Kate’s number. “Hey, it’s me, Derek,” he said when Kate answered her phone. “I know this is kind of a sudden idea I had, but I was going to take a walk along the beach with the dogs. Did you want to come with me?”

  “When?”

  He couldn’t believe she might be interested. “Whenever it’s convenient for you.” He was afraid she would turn him down again. “Unless I have pressing business, I usually take a daily run or walk with one of the dogs in the morning and one in the evening too. But if you can come with me, we can take out two of them at the same time.”

  “Sure, as long as you take care of the poop.”

  He chuckled. Now she was down-to-earth. He couldn’t even imagine anyone he’d ever dated saying anything to that effect. He liked that. “Yeah, I’ve got it. So what time would be good for you?”

  “I imagine it’s crazy busy out on the beach there on a Saturday with the nice weather we’re having.”

  “It’s not too bad. It’s early, and clouds are starting to form, so we might have a storm coming in later today.”

  “I’ll be right over.”

  He was going to offer to pick her up, but if she felt more comfortable driving here on her own so she didn’t feel like it was a date per se, he would leave it up her. “Okay, see you in a little while.” He wanted to shout out to the world that he’d done it, convinced her to see him further! He hadn’t really believed she would. He had been afraid she would keep making excuses why she couldn’t see him like she had done with Cliff. Why did he feel some satisfaction in that? He’d even been afraid she’d had a little too much champagne last night and that was why she had asked him to join the group camping. Today she might have regretted extending the invitation.

  Will came around to the patio. “Everything’s clear. What’s your schedule today? Except for Liam coming to have you sign financial paperwork, I didn’t see anything else on your calendar.”

  “I’m taking the dogs for a walk, and Kate’s going to join me.”

  Both dogs perked up at hearing Derek say he was going to take them for a walk.

  “Hot damn. You did it.”

  “He got another date?” Cliff asked, joining them.

  “Just a walk with the dogs.”

  “Take the dogs and Kate for a long walk, and you can time it so that she can stay for an early lunch,” Cliff said.

  Derek couldn’t believe his bodyguards were trying to work out his schedule so he could get the most dating time with Kate, but he was all for it.

  “Who’s staying for lunch?” Maddie asked, calling out the kitchen window as she cleaned up after breakfast, loving to have the windows open to draw in the ocean breeze on such a beautiful day. He swore she had the biggest wolf ears of the bunch.

  Chapter 8

  Kate couldn’t believe Derek would ask her out to do something she would really love to do, and she’d already showered after gardening, so she was squeaky clean and ready for a fun walk with him and the dogs. She would run later as a wolf tonight, but she wanted to get out of the house, no fancy ballroom gowns or strappy high heels required. She really was more of a casual kind of girl, and this was just the outing she needed. She grabbed a swimsuit—because she planned to take a dip in the ocean—sunglasses, and a floppy hat, and she was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. She picked up her sunscreen, applied some of the coconut-scented lotion to her skin, and tossed the container of sunscreen in her beach bag.

  She got into her car, pulled out of the garage, and put the top down. She had just closed the garage door and was about to drive off when she saw Spirit running toward her car. Kate had never known a dog that loved to ride with her more than Spirit. She got out of the car and coaxed Spirit back to Lexi’s yard. She swore Spirit knew she was taking some other dog for a walk and not her!

  Then Kate drove to Derek’s place. She’d never been there before, though she knew it was down the road from Rafe’s beachfront estate.

  She felt on top of the world, first with Lexi making her a partner in the cosmetics business and now with having a whole weekend off and having a wolf friend to walk with. Yes, she was thinking of the billionaire wolf as her friend now. She just hoped things wouldn’t sour between them, which would make it uncomfortable when everyone got together in the future.

  Then she thought of the last time she walked along the beach, when the waves had deposited stinging jellyfish all over the sand. She hoped they wouldn’t be an issue today. Otherwise, she’d have to watch where she stepped and she would stay clear of the water when she really wanted to swim for a little bit.

  She sighed. She supposed she should let Lexi know where she was going, but she hated to interrupt her and Ryder during their time off together. But Lexi would want to know that Kate was all right and just enjoying herself. Kate decided to call Mike instead, since he would be hanging around the house in case Lexi or Ryder needed him.

  “Hey, Mike. It’s me, Kate. I was just calling to let you know I’m going over to Derek’s place to walk with him and the dogs on the beach.”

  “And you didn’t invite me?”

  She knew Mike was teasing her. “You have a job to do. I have the weekend off. When you have your days off and I’m serving as Lexi’s bodyguard in your place, you can go walking with Derek and his dogs.”

  Mike laughed. “You know that’s going to change.”

  “What’s going to change?” That Derek was going to start dating a human woman again? At least Kate figured he would.

  “With you being part owner of Lexi’s business now, she’s going to want you to concentrate on that. With twins coming, she’ll probably hire a second bodyguard and a nanny.”

  “Oh.” Kate hadn’t thought of her hiring another bodyguard, but it made sense.

  “I mean, hell, if we all run into trouble sometime or another, you’ll be worth your weight in gold because you’re still a trained bodyguard,” Mike said, as if he didn’t want her to think all her training was no longer needed and she was being replaced.